Canada’s Employment rose to 55,000 in December
According to Statistics Canada’s Labor Force Survey, the percentage of newcomers at core age is higher than before the pandemic.
Canada’s Employment rose to 55,000 in December, while unemployment was little changed.
During the week of December 5-11, Statistics Canada’s Labor Force Survey captured economic conditions. It was just before the Omicron variant spread in Canada, causing an increase in cases.
In December, just before public health measures were strengthened, more people were working full-time. Most of the employment growth was in Ontario.
Nationally, growth was driven by the construction and education sector.
The unemployment rate has dropped slightly to 5.9%, compared to 6% in November. Before the pandemic, Canada’s unemployment rate in February 2020 was 5.6%.
Newcomer employment higher than pre-pandemic
In December, the total number of very recent immigrants of core working age (25 to 54) was 0.6% higher, or 5,000 more, than two years earlier.
The proportion of newly immigrated regular immigrants rose 7.8 points to 78.7% in the two years to December 2021. Employment growth during this period was highest in professional, scientific and technical services (plus 26,000 jobs, 31.3%), and wholesale and retail (plus 20,000 jobs, 28.7%).
Significant growth in both industries, according to Statistics Canada, reflects the role of both high-skilled and low-skilled employment in integrating newcomers into the labor market. According to the National Occupational Classification (NOC), professional, scientific and technical services tend to have “high qualifications”, while retailers such as cashiers are classified as “low skills”.
